Safety appliance for elevators.



APPLICATION FILED NOVJZZ, I909,

Patented June 29, 1915.

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S. M. MILLER.

S AFETY APPLiANCE FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION HLED NOV; 22, I909.

Patented June 29, 1915.

3 $HEETSSHEET 3 SOLOMON M. M lli-LEE, OF PEQRIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BYMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T ELEVATOR LOCKS COMPANY, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOE.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ELEVATORS.

re ance.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 22. 1909. Serial No. 529,493.

"To all whom it may concern:

Be it lznownthat I, SOLOMON M. MILLER, citizen of the United States,residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, ha einvented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances forElevators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to safety locks for the starting lever ofpassenger and freight elevators and relates more particularly to lockingmeans for said starting lever controlled by the floor or shaft door.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a mechanism having theabove in view and in which part of such mechanism is carried bv the saidcar and part by the building-floor.

Another object is to improve upon the de vice shown in my Letters PatentNo. 1,017,684 issued to me on the th dav of February, 1919, by providingnew forms of certain of the parts v; icrcby advantages mav be had.

The invention besides having these objects in view relates to certaindetails of construction which will be pointed out herein and form thesubject matter of some of the appended claims.

In't-he appended drawin s:Figure 1 is an elevation of part of themechanism usedinside of the elevator-car with parts in broken lines andin which the floor of the car is shown in-partsection. Fig. 2 is a pl npartof the car and a part of the lmhnrn r-fioor showing the mechanismcarried bv each. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of part of the car andpart of the buildiniffloor showing their respective mechanisms. Fig. -iis a sectional elevation, in part. of an l h the car to extend throughthe side the eof. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of an adjustable connectionfor certain of the parts. Fig. 6 is an elevation of part of the corshowing nieehanism for operating a door locking device. Fig. 7 is anelevation of part of the building-floor showing the door i-Tfll-Illlfide ice. Fig. 8 is a plan of the two .--h:1nisn1s shown in Figs. (3 and7.

.0 drawings illustrate a controlling or 1: inc lever for theelevator-car and means lock it in the opening movement of the carfloor-door. The parts. operated by the door in its opening movement willlock the operating lever at its position of rest or where it has nocontrol of the power. Therefore, if

the door is open the lever in the car must he held so that the operatoris powerless to start the car.

A indicates the floor of the building in which the elevator car isinstalled, and 3 represents the floor of the elevator-ear itself. whileC and D indicate the elevator-door and the door-track respectively.Mounted in any suitable manner upon the floor A between theelevator-shaft and the track D is a standard E having! two verticalextensions F. Fig. 7, through which extends a horizon tally disposedslidable bar G having an adjustable member H thereon. Figs. and 7,provided with a roller J extending into said elevator-shaft. said memberbeing secured in any desired positi on by means. for example, of a setscrew K. Secured also upon the floor some distance from the standard Eis a member L shown in another position in Fig. It is provided with ahead L and two cars iii-thereon which carry a rock-shaft O on which isan arm N. Secir d on the projecting end of said shaft lying nearest thedoor C, see Figs. 2 and. 7. is a fork P in position to be engaged by aroller Q. carried by the said door. Upon the upper end of the arm N ispivoted a block it provided with a set screw S: there being a rod Tcarried at one end in said block and secured bV said screw, while theopposite end ofthe said rod has pivotal connection with the slid-ablebar G hereinbefore described.

It is the purpose of this device, as in my Letters Patent abovementioned. to lock the operatin; mechanism in the car by means operatedbv the shaft-door, that is to say, when the door is opened saidmechanism will be operated to cause the controlling lever or othermember in the car to be held so that it cannot be moved to start saidear.

The mechanism as carried bv the car, and

which is somewhat different from the form shown in mv patent referredto, will now be described.

I. have indicated the starting lever of the at A diacent to said leveris a rodshaft 6 mounted in hearings 7 secured on the door of the saidcar. said shaft being bent to form a. arch shaped portion 8 providedwith a. notch 9 to receive said lever 5. One

2 inaaeeeend of the shaft is provided with an upwardly extending arm 10,which, when moved, rocks the shaft to embrace said lever.

Journaled' upon the wall of the car is a vertically disposed rock-shaft11 the bearings therefor being indicated at 12. Secured on the saidshaft is an arm 13 lying substan tially parallel to the shaft 6 the freeends of. i said arm and shaft being connected, for instance, through alink adjustable for length in any desired manner.. This may consist, forinstance, of a threaded member 14 engagingyoke-members l5 pivoted toblocks 16 carried by both the arms 10 and 13., This adjustment isprovided so that a given movement of the arm 13 will impart the properdistance of movement to the part 8 to properly engage the lever 55;while a spring 17 on the arm 13 normally tends to hold the-said part 8free of said lever. provided near each end'with an arm 18, one

of which is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, both said arms extending through thewall of the car. They carry at their ends outside the car, a verticallydisposed striking plate or .bar 19 whose ends are formed with anglingextensions 20. This said bar travels with the car and between said carand the wall of the elevator-shaft, and is adapted to be engaged by theroller J on the sliding rod G. When the car has a'position at the fioorand the shaft-door is moved to open it the fork P is engaged by theroller Q to impart movement to the bar G. The roller ,J of the latterthus engages the bar 19 and rocks the shaft 11 to move the arm 13 in adirection to cause the part 8 of'the rock-shaft 6 to inclose the lever 5and thus prevent its movement sufficient to start the car, whilethedo'or is open. But in closing the door the roller J is carried awayfrom the bar 19 and the spring 17 of the arm 13 will at once rock theshaft 6 to its normal position thus permitting the lever 5 to beoperated. It is to be noted that the Width of the notch 9 of the saidpart 8 is considerably greater in measurement than the width of thelever. The-purpose of this is, that though said lever may not standexactly at its central position, though powerless to start the car, itcan be readily engaged by said part 8.

The difierence-in structure over my former device, and the advantagesarisingtheredue to parts striking one another during the movement of theelevator-car from floor to floor. The roller J and the member 19 arenever permitted to touch in the travel of the The shaft 11 is car butone is brought into the path of the other only at the time the car is tobe stopped to open the door. The said member 19 extends above and belowthe saidroller J so that the starting lever can be locked even when thecar is slightly above or slightly below said floor level.' The mechanismoperated by the door and the means on the car which engages it move inparallel planes parallel to the plane of the door and the side of thecar instead of in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the door, or

across the space between the car and the door as in some of the olderdevices. -A nice adjustment of the engaging parts is thus possible whichwould not be true in said older structures. In addition, I am enabled toadapt the device to a car in which the the best manner of accomplishingthe various operations and all Without departing from the spirit andintent of the invention; all such changes lying -within the meaningthereof.

It is to be understood that my mechanism is adaptable to all types ofcar starting or operating means whether that means is in the form of alever, wheel, or otherdevice and for the sake of brevity ofdescriptionherein and in some of the claims this starting means has been referredto as a lever.

Also those parts referred to hereby by the numerals 18, 19 and 8for'locking the operating lever 5, though-made up of several parts, andwhich may be mounted otherwise than shown, will be referred to in theclaims as a rocking member in the interest of clearnessfand brevitysince these could he slidable parts as Well'as rocking ones. I have usedthe term lock in speakin of the control of the lever 5 by means of themember 8 and shall use the same or an equivalent term in some of theclaims and while the said member 8 does not actually hold or lockythelever that member cannot be moved sufliciently to start the car when thesaid member 8 is thrown toward it. In referring to the arched portion orpart 8 in some of the claims I shall state that it is moved into thepath of the starting device or lever 5. By this I mean any means thatwill engage the device or lever or in some way prevent its movement tostart the car by moving into the path of movement of said lever or somepart of it.

Besides the mechanism which forms the subject of this application othermet sin is illustrated which relates to a door "1 ck but this forms thesubject matter of a divimenses sional application No. 640,303 filed July24, 1911. r

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In mechanism of the classdescribed, the combination with an elevator-car, of a starting levertherein, a rocking member adapted to maintain the starting lever in itsinoperative position, a second member carried by the car and extendinginto the elevator-shaft and adapted for pivotal movement in a lateraldirection and having operative connection with the rocking member, adevice to elastically and normally hold tl member removed from the path0 in" lever, the floor door, a member upon the building-floor and engamoved by said door, adjust e n the last named member to enga e "tscribed second member carried on a.

2. in mechanism of the class described, the combination with anelevator-ca 1 ing lever, means carried by the to be. rocked into thepath of t: lever to station it in its position of rest, a member pvotally mounted r nding' do the elevator a r obliquely disposes eachend,

at lmember adapted for a roc moveni no in a lateral direction and haoperative connect on with the rockns, a device to elastically hold tiemember removed from the vies e starting lever, the door door, mere-- 1'mounted upon the building-floor and ened and shifted by said door,-adjustextension on the last named member to engage the pivoted member,and means to fix the eritension in position on said member;

In mechanism of the class described, the combination with anelevator-car, ofa controlling lever ior the same, rockingmeans mountedon the car and provided with a re cess to receive the said controllinglever, a lover extension on the rocking member, 'a member carried by thecar and extending into elevator-shaft and having a leverextcnsion tooperatively connect with the extension of the said rocking member, adevice for normally holding the latter and the second named member atone extreme ofthcir movements, the floor door, an extension thereon, arock-shaft, a member on said shaft with which the extension of the doorengages, a horizontally disposed slidable menr ber, means on thebuilding-floor to carry the latter, means to operatively connect saidslidable member with the said-roclr-shaft,

and an extension on the said slidable mem her to engage the member onthe car that extends into theelevator-shaft,

4. In mechanism of the class descr1bed,the

combination with an elevatoncar, of an operating lever therein, means inthe car adapt ed to move the path ofsaidoperating rocking lever andhaving a lever-extension thereon, a vertically disposed shaft havingbear ngs on the Wall of the, car, a lever thereon-operatively connectedto the said lever-extension, an extension on said shaft projecting intothe elevator-shaft including a member pro-- vided with a verticallydisposed surface, said member having an extension at each end d1s-.

posed at an angle to the vertical surface, a'

device to normally hold the lever engaging means at one of its extremeposi ing lever ehereim'a rocking member adapted 1e path of the saidlever and tire, a member carried on vertically Within the eled hating;an cblioaie exten acn. e standard mounted on the cor, a horizontallyshiftable mema friction roller carried thereby to engage the said.vertically dis- ,aber, a door door aoapted to and move the shiftablemember to movement to the vertically disposed into ii o. In mechanism ofthe class described, the combination with the elevator-cal", of a starting' lei er, means in the car to hold the lever, member operativelyconnected with the said means and extending into the elevatorshaft andshif'table in a lateral direction, means to adjust the first said meansand the said member relatively, the'elevator-dcor, a shiftable membermounted on the buildingiloor to which movemen the shift-able member andadjustable t ereon and adapted to engage the member on the car for thepurposes set forth.

7. In mechanism of the class'described, the combination with theelevator-car, of a starting lever therein, means in the car. to hold thelever, a member carried on the car and operatively connected with saidmeans and extending into the elevator-shaft, means to adjust the firstsaid means and the member relatively, the elevator-door, a shiftablemember mounted on the floor to which movement is imparted by said door,an extension on the door, and a member engaged thereby and havingoperative connection with the shiftable member, means by .which thetwoare adjusted relatively: and an adjustable roller carried by theshiftable member and imparted by andparallel to said C1001, and a rollercarried by adapted to engage the said member on the car.

8. The combination with an elevator-car,

its starting lever, and .the floor door, of.

means in the car to'lie in the path of the starting lever including amember extending into the elevator-shaft, a standard on the buildingfloor, a member carried thereby and provided with an extension ada tedfor adjustment longitudinally thereo parallel to the door to engage thefirst described memher, a forked rocking member mounted on the floor, alink connecting the rocking mem ber and the member carried by thestandard,

and a projection on the door to engage the said forked rocking member.

9. The combination with an elevator car, its starting lever, and thefioordoor, of means carried by the car and adapted to be rocked into thepath of the lever andhaving an arm, a bell-crank pivoted on the car, alink connecting the arm With one of the extensions of the bell-crank, asubstantially vertically disposed striking-plate carried by the otherextension of the bell-crank, and a member operated by the floor d'oor inits the other extension of'the bell crank and striking plate to move thesaidmeans in the lying-within the elevator shaft, and means operated bythe floor-door in its opening movement adapted to engage and move saidcar into the path of the lever, the ends of said striking plate recedingat an obtuse angle from one of its surfaces and whenv at rest lyingsubstantially parallel to the side of the car from which it is carried.

11. The combination with an elevator ear, its starting lever, and thefloor-door, of means carried by the car and adapted to rock toward andinto the path of the said lover, a member mounted on the car and lyingin the elevator shaft including a part to operate said means, a linkconnecting the said'part and said means, a device constantly tending toelastically hold the latter disengaged from the lever, the said memberha ing its ends receding at an angle from one of the surfaces in thedirection of its line of movement, a support mounted on thebuilding-floor, a member, mounted therein and adapted to be shiftedparallel to the floor door by the movement of the door and including apart to engage said member, a fork mounted near the door and adapted toswing parallel to and by said door and ineluding an arm, and meansconnecting the said arm and the shiftable member.

12. The combination with an elevator car, its starting lever, and thefioor door, of means in the car adapted to be carried into the path ofthe lever, a member operatively connected therewith and lying in theelevator shaft and including a vertical portion,

a support mounted on the buildingfloor,

a member carried byit and movable parallel to the plane of the door, andadapted to en gage and move the part on the car and lying in theelevator shaft, a fork mounted also on the floor and operatedvby saiddoom-91' part connecting the fork and the sa'id me'm-j her, and means topermit adjustmentof the fork and the member relatively.

13.. The combinationwith the starting dc;

vice of an elevator car, of a rock} shaft" mounted in the car providedwith an oifset,

portion including a notch to engage said-device, a bell crank mountedonthe car, a link connecting one of its arms with said rock-" shaft, avertically disposed striking plate mountedon the other arm of'said bellcrank J outside the car, a shaft door, and means operated by it adaptedto move said striking plate. 7 14. The combination With the startingdevice of an elevator car, of 'a'rock-shaft mounted in the car providedwith an'ofi'set portion including a notch to engage said; device, a bellcrank mounted on the car, a link connecting one of its arms With saidrock-shaft, a verticallydisposed' strikingj.-

plate mounted on the other arm Q1. said bell crank outside the car, ashaft door, means operated by it adapted to move said striking plate,and means to elastically hold the lat'-,

ter in the direction of the last nan'ied means,

15. The combination With the startin de-f vice of an elevator car, of amounted in the car provided W a portion including a notch to device, abell crank mounted 0 link connecting one of its 211 rock-shaft,avertically di plate mounted on the other an of .Jell crank outside thecar, a shaft door, and

means operated by it adapted to move said striking plate, including anadjustable part to engage the latter.

16. A standard,a bar slidable therein, a sliding door including a partextending laterally therefrom, a fork pivoted -in the path of the saidpart and adapted toreceive the latter, an arm extending from the pivotof the fork, and a link pivotally connecting the arm and said bar, incombination W1th an elevator car including a startmgdevice,

and means on the car to engage thelatter including apart operated bysaid bar mono of the movements of said door.

17. A standard, a bar slidable therein, a".

sliding door including a part extending movements of said door, and a.member 16 laterally therefrom, a fork pivoted in the elastically incontrol of the said means.

path of the said part and ads. ted to receive In testimony whereof Iafiix my signature, the latter, an arm extending rom the pivot inpresence of two Witnesses.

, of the fork, and a link pivotally connecting SOLOMON MILLER the armand said her, in combination with an elevator oar including a startingdevice, Witnesses:

means on the car to engage the latter'includ- D. H. DUNCAN, ing a partonerated by said bar in one of the ARTHUR C. BLACK.

